New group has better understanding of police work

Andrew Edwards

A late night traffic stop went from bad to worse. The driver would

not cooperate. The officer could not get a word in to tell the driver

why he had been pulled over. Out of nowhere, the driver and

passengers open their doors and rush out of the car.

Shots rang out in rapid fire as the officers trained their

semi-automatic pistols on criminals and opened fire.

What happened was not a nightmarish night in the inner-city -- it

happened right here in Laguna Beach.

Of course, it was all fake.

Shown an video at a dinner honoring the academy’s 23 graduates

March 31 at Tivoli Terrace, the episode was from a night in the

police department’s Citizen Academy, rather than the not-so-mean

streets of Laguna. Students in the class would take turns simulating

a traffic stop, many of which exploded in bursts of pretend violence

and expended magazines of blank bullets.

One of the students who pulled the trigger was William Oldum.

“I shot at him, I don’t know if I got him,” he said.

Following the show, Police Chief James Spreine jokingly commented

on the students’ readiness to use force.

“Most of my officers don’t necessarily walk up to the car with

their hands on their guns, ready to go,” he said.

More seriously, he congratulated the students for completing the

12-week course.

“You will always, and I mean always, be a part of the LBPD

family,” Spreine said.

During the course, students also toured the Orange County Jail and

learned about many aspects of police life ranging from investigations

to traffic work.

“They’ve got a pretty tough job, being a police officer. That’s

what I learned,” graduate Charles Viviani said.

They also had a chance to shoot real bullets at the firing range.

A paper target belonging to graduate Michele Esterley is still

hanging up at her house after she fired multiple bullets right

through the target’s heart, she said.

“My friends keep saying, ‘When are you going to take that down?,’

And I say, ‘Never,’” Esterley said.

So far, 203 people in 10 classes have completed the Academy. The

next Citizen Academy is scheduled to begin on Sept. 1.